Changing Waters Book 1
by Batfan3
Summary: Sometimes she regretted becoming a hero, but then she would remember why, and all of that regret would turn into something else...anger, and she would repeat that promise, and never, ever, forget. Scarlet is trying to escape her past, escape her failures. But the thing about a past, is it always catches up with you... R/R PLEASE! Rated for language/mentions of rape/child abuse
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

**Never Again**

She looked at him in horror.

"It was you?" she whispered. "All along, you kept telling me that it was him, but it was you. _Why_?"

"I saw potential that no-one else saw. You were brave, and you had reasons," he replied stoically.

"So you wanted to train me to be a weapon!" She yelled. He shook his head.

"No, your powers were great, we didn't want you to hurt any-"

"Yes, you did. And I believed you, followed you,_ trusted _you. Fool that I was." She turned away so he didn't see the tear slide down her cheek. He walked up to her.

"Well you know what? Never again will someone like you use me. Never again." She said quietly, turning so she was eye to eye with her, now, enemy, "I'm done." With that, she threw something down, it exploded, smoke flooded the room. Men came pouring in. When the smoke cleared, she was gone.

"Should we go after her sir?" One of the men asked. He shook his head.

"Idiots, you'll never catch her."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

**Scarlet **

A girl with long red hair, brown skin and crystal blue eyes, sat in the hold of a cargo ship. She was about fifteen years old, small for her age, yet strong and lithe.

She was running. That's all she seemed to be doing these days. Running. She no longer had a safe haven, or a place to be.

She'd known the consequences of leaving, but she didn't care. She couldn't spend another second there in that hell-hole.

The cargo-ship was headed for Gotham. She dreaded returning to her birth place, but she didn't have much of a choice. That was the only place that _he _wouldn't look for her. He knew how much she didn't like it there. The site of her greatest failure, her worst memories.

She was shaken from her thoughts by footsteps coming down the stairs. She scooted backwards a little, pulling the camouflaged cape tighter around her. A light briefly shown in the corner where she hid, but moved on just as fast.

She let out a slow sigh. She didn't hate Gotham, she just had memories she wished to avoid. But sometimes she had to do things that made her uncomfortable.

Scarlet darted off the ship, ignoring the shouts of surprise and darting into an alley, scrambling up a wall with ease. She roof hopped until she was quite a ways into the city.

First thing on her list was to find a place to stay. There was an abundance of abandoned buildings in Gotham's underbelly. One such building shone brighter in her memory.

It was a broken down movie theater. It had been abandoned for a while and not many people went there, so it was pretty much ripe for the taking.

She sat down on the edge of the stage, looking around. Her eyes traveled to the rafters. She shot a grappler up, looking around the big area. She could get a canvas, use some of the tools and nails lying around, then connect the canvas onto the beams.

"This can work," she told herself. "For now."

She didn't have a ton of stuff, but she didn't have a little either. She opened up her backpack, straddling the beam. She had a collapsible bo staff/eskrema sticks, a case of shurikans, four grapplers, six throwing knives (with sheaths), a case of bombs, smoke pellets and various special bombs, a long whip, and, her prize, a beautifully made katana. Courtesy of her former mentor.

A second backpack sat to one side with her suit, extra clothes, toiletries, her phone, and a few other things. Necessities.

She gazed at her suit blankly. It was black, with a red bird on the chest, the utility belt was red too. The full weight of her position finally crashed down on her. She squeezed the kevlar enforced fabric so tight that her knuckles were white.

Then the tears came.

Just little ones at first, then heart wrenching sobs shook her small frame.

She scrubbed at her cheeks angrily.

"You're weak," she spat. "And pathetic. Pull yourself together." She wiped away the last of the tears and stuffed the suit back into her backpack.

"I'm never going back. Never." The last thing her former mentor said appeared in her mind;

_"__My dear Strike, never is such a long time…"_

**Sorry it's short, next one will be longer.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I am so so sorry for the long wait, my computer got taken away. Last chapter a lot of people said it wasn't****very descriptive, and I know that, it's not supposed to be. You won't be finding out about Scarlet until quite a bit later. Thanks for the reviews! More reviews=more chapters!**

**And without further adué, Chapter 3**

**Chapter 3**

**Red Kite**

Scarlet walked along the street, head down, hoodie pulled low over her face. It was around ten o'clock, it would've been dangerous for anyone in Gotham at this time, everyone but her. Training for over eight years by one of the best martial artists in the world had it's benefits.

A police car zoomed by, siren screaming. She remembered talk in the ship earlier. Something about a big drug trade off at the docks.

She mentally debated wether or not to go. It was something to do. She didn't have anything else today, tomorrow or any other day. She rolled her eyes at herself, but headed back to her new home, grabbing her suit and weapons.

She didn't live to far from the docks, in took three minutes of roof hopping to arrive at on a warehouse. She tapped the domino mask, turning on the infrared vision. She looked around. Two heat signatures on the rooftop two buildings over, probably the Dynamic Dunderheads, fifteen inside the warehouse right across from her.

She smirked.

_Gotcha. _

She watched Batman and Robin. She quickly went over to the warehouse, staying out of sight and turning off the infrared. She hadn't seen anyone near the side door, so she chose that as her entry point.

"What are we waiting around for?" One of the guys said. "They should 'ave been 'ere by now."

"Oi, the boss says we wait for 'dem, so we wait," another said.

The main door opened. Fifteen more people came in.

"Sorry we're late boys, do you have the merchandise?" The leader said.

"Aye we got it," the apparent leader of the other group said. "You got the money?"

"Where's your boss?"

"He aint here tonight, jus' like your boss aint. Let's just finish up and get out of 'ere before the Bat and his Brat come."

She smirked. _You're gonna wish it were the Bat by the time I'm done with you._

She jumped on the dealer closest to her, knocking him out with a well placed jab.

"Who's-"

"Doesn't matter, just get her!"

She drew her katanna, blocking the bullets with ease. She made the bullets hit in non-lethal places. Shoulders, legs. She jumped up, taking out several dealers. The guy behind her dropped by a well placed kick. Not from her.

"I was wondering when you two would show up," she said with a laugh.

"Who are you?" Robin asked.

"Focus on the fight Birdboy, we'll talk later," she said. It took them only a few moments to take out the rest of them, they then went to the roof as the cops drove up.

"Already called the cops huh? Nice-" She turned, only to be glared at by the Batman. He was about a foot taller than her, so it might have been intimidating. To bad it wasn't.

"Don't glare at me," she spat. "I was helping."

"Who are you?" He growled.

"The name's Red Kite," she said, mock bowing.

Robin snorted. "What kind of name is that?"

She shot him a glare. "Of shutcha trap, _Robin._"

"Why are you here?" Batman said, ignoring the exchange.

"What's it look like Bat?" She asked, taking a step back. "Suit, belt, crime fighting skills in spades."

"Who trained you?" Batman growled.

She placed a hand on her chest. "Now now of all people should know how important a secret identity is."

"Except that this is my city," he growled. "You want to play hero? Go to Metropolis. Gotham is off limits."

Her lightheartedness disappeared. "I go where I want. I don't need some over-grown rodent telling me what I can and can't do. You saw me take them out, easy. I'm not hurting anyone."

"Tell that to those men you shot," he said.

She huffed. "I didn't shoot them. They shot themselves." He glared. "So what if my methods are more extreme. They were shooting at me. I didn't kill them. Any of them."

"What is your goal?" Batman asked.

She shrugged. "Same as yours. Plus it's something to do. Besides, most people will think it's you. I'm not going to hurt your precious Gotham."

"You think we're gonna believe that?" Robin asked.

"No. But I don't care." She started to walk away. "I don't want nutt'n to do with you two." Before either of them could stop her, she threw down a smoke bomb and disappeared.

Dick flipped up and down on the trapeze in the Batcave. They'd just gotten back from patrol, the night had been slow, apart from the girl, Red Kite.

"So Bruce, what are we gonna do about this Red Kite?" He asked.

Bruce didn't looked up. "I placed a tracker on her. It's transmitting."

"Cool." Dick jumped down and went over. At the moment she was going across Gotham, away from the docks, towards…she stopped at a little appliance store called AJ's Tech. "We going after her?"

Bruce didn't answer. Suddenly, the signal disappeared.

"She found it," he said in slight aw.

Bruce grunted. "Both of them."

"You had two on her?" He asked.

"I like to be prepared," Bruce said.

"So what are we gonna do?" He asked.

Bruce looked at the screen briefly, then stood. "Nothing."

He stared at his mentor's retreating back. "What? What do you mean _nothing_?"

"I mean, nothing. We're going to wait. It's her move."

Scarlet turned the tracking device in her hand. She'd crushed one, but rewired the other to stop transmitting. If ever she needed to contact the Bat, she could.

She sort of wanted to go to a high school. It was something to do during the day, also a useful gossip outlet, and people looked at her weird when they saw a lone fifteen year old at a coffee shop. She could use her considerable hacking skills to get herself records and parents. Her parents wouldn't be around, obviously, only taking messages and such.

Gotham North seemed like a good a place as any. She also needed a job. Something simple, just to get her food. It wouldn't be to hard in school. She knew history, she was good at math, english was, eh, she was also multi-linguistic. She was pretty average in everything else. She'd do good.

She didn't really know _why _she wanted to. She just did. She would use Kara Madison as an alias. She'd never used it before, so _they_ wouldn't know.

Scarlet looked around at the chatting teens and little clusters and groups. She blended in fine, blond hair, brown eyes, light skin. First day of school. Gosh that sounded so cheesy. But all well, here we go.

The bell rang and all of the teens filed in. Her first class was math, which she did well at. The roll call was done and over with quickly. And the day of classes began.

At lunch, Scarlet sat alone in the cafeteria, her ears open to the gossip around her. Her classes had been surprisingly easy. It was weird, acting like a regular kid. She couldn't stop herself from analyzing threat levels, exit and entry points, possible escape strategies. It was all drilled into her.

**One week later…**

Scarlet was back 'home', honing the blade of her sword on a whetstone. Her glove/wrist computer/hacker/equipment place sat next to her. She'd hacked the police frequency, all she had to do now was wait.

She'd already done her homework.

"It's so weird having to worry about homework," she muttered.

She'd spent the last seventy two hours in a steady routine. Get up, train, school, homework.

At night she would patrol Gotham, trying to avoid all encounters with Batman. She hadn't fought any Arkhamites as of yet though. She couldn't say she was disappointed. She'd had enough crazy for a life-time.

The 'zing' of stone on steel was the only noise in the abandoned building. She thought about moving every few nights, but dismissed the idea. She'd already bought a canvas, hooking it to the beams to create a sort of platform. Just so she wouldn't roll off at night.

_"__All units respond. Joker and Harley Quinn spotted at the Gotham Bank, five hostages."_

A slow smirk spread across her face. So maybe she did want some action. She quickly changed, grabbing her belt and pulling on her gloves. The domino mask finished off the ensemble.

It only took five minutes to get to the bank. New record. A bunch of police cars were outside.

She went to the top of the building, looking down through the skylight.

"You were right Bats."

She didn't even flinch. "Oh hey Bats, bird. Nice of you to join the party."

"Stay out of this one," Batman growled. "You don't know how to handle a hostage situation."

She snorted, turning. "Says who? I can do it just fine."

_I've caused them after all._

Batman glared.

She opened the skylight by breaking the lock with her katanna.

" 'sides, we're waisting time."

Batman jumped down. "Follow our lead."

She snorted. "Yes bossman, whatever you say." She jumped down after Robin. "Like hell." The bank was eerily quiet, the sunlight streamed in from the skylight.

"Joker's making his move in the day, that's not normal," Robin remarked.

Batman shot him a glance. "Name one thing about the Joker that's normal."

Robin shrugged. "Good point."

She tapped her mask, flicking on the infrared.

"I've got seven heat signatures in the second room to the right, two more on the second story," she reported.

_Reported? Since when did she report?_

Robin glanced at her, she shrugged. "Infrared."

"Same," Robin said.

"Robin and Red Kite, you get the hostages. I'll take Joker and Harley," Batman ordered.

Robin gave a short nod, going in the direction of the seven heat signature room. She followed quickly.

_Followed? Reported? Geez girl, get your head in the game._

They found two big guys, machine guns pointed at three hostages who were gagged, bound and unconscious. Three. Robin glanced at her. Uh oh.

Something slammed into her from behind.

"Oh Mistah J, your plan worked poifectly!" A high-pitched, bright voice with a New Jersey accent rang out.

She picked herself up, Joker and Harley Quinn stood in the doorway.

"Don't move birds, or the people eat led," Joker said. Then cackled. "Don't you just love a good surprise?"

"By now, Batman has found the other two hostages, tied to a bomb set to go off in five minutes," Harley said. "Isn't Mistah J a genius?"

"Why thank you Harley."

Her eyes flicked to Robin, he was inching a bat-a-rang from his glove even as she pulled a shurikans from hers.

He gave a barely perceptible nod. The threw their respective weapons at the same time, hit the guns with a small explosion. She jumped on one thug, hitting several pressure points, he dropped like a stone. Robin had already taken out his.

"Oh like we didn't expect that." He pulled a giant gun from behind the door, cackling madly and firing wildly. The bullets, miraculously, missed the hostages, who were still tied and gagged.

She spun her sword, blocking the bullets.

"Impressive," Joker said. "Who trained you?"

She threw an ice pellet, it hit the gun, ice flew up the barrel, almost catching Joker's hands.

"I almost forgot to ask, who exactly are you?" Joker asked, rubbing his hands, he whipped out two switchblades, blocking an attack from Robin's eskrima sticks.

She dodged a bullet fired by Harley.

"No one of consequence," she said. "But you can call me Red Kite." She caught Harley's leg, who'd tried to kick her, throwing Harley back to Joker. "I think this is yours!" Joker simply sidestepped.

Robin dropped down on Joker, using him as a springboard and landing next to her.

"Well that was lame," Joker said, seeming annoyed.

"Check again," Robin said with a smirk.

The explosives on Joker's knives blew. Something slammed into her, Harley.

"Don't you dare hurt mistah J!" She said. Red Kite dodged a punch, her foot catching Harley in the jaw, dropping her.

She looked up to Batman take out the Joker, then help Robin up.

"Civilians safe?" She asked.

He gave her a sharp nod.

She cut the civilians bonds, re-sheathing her katanna across her back. Batman and Robin had already tied up the Joker and Harley Quinn.

The civilians started to groan. She backed out of the room, shooting a grappler up to the skylight, landing up on the roof.

Both Robin and Batman were there momentarily.

"Staying out of the spotlight?" Robin questioned.

She shot him a glare.

"You did surprisingly good," Batman remarked.

"S-surprisingly?" She sputtered.

"I can help you," he added.

She crossed her arms defiantly. "I'm fine on my own."

Robin coughed/snorted.

"This is also my city," Batman growled.

She held up her hands. "I get it okay? No powers, no killing. Got it."

"Those aren't the only factors," he added.

She backed away. "I won't get in your way. Promise." She turned and jumped off the building.

She took a round-about way back home, panting by the time she got there. She leaned against the wall, sliding down into a sitting position. She leaned her head against the wall.

_That was close. To close. Could he know? No. Well, he is the Batman._

She hoped he would let her continue as a hero. She told herself it was just for the rush, the action that came with the cape, but it was more than that. It was a way for her to make up for all that she'd done. A way to wipe away some of the red in her ledger.

She shuddered, her heart pounding, at the echoes of the screaming, the terror, gunshots, silence. Closing her eyes and resting her head against her knees.

_Deep breath. In…out…in…out._

The shudders subsided, her heart returned to it's normal rate. She hated this. It made her feel weak. Weak and small. It was _his_ fault. He made her feel that way. And she hated it.

She slowly stood, running a hand through her long red hair, slowly drawing in a long shuddering breath.

"Never give up. Never break. Never submit," she recited. This phrase had been hammered into her from early childhood, she'd done it up to now, she wasn't about to quit. 


End file.
